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Gravity

Original post made
by Sarah, South of Midtown,
on Oct 11, 2013

Peter, you missed the whole plot of Gravity. (Spoiler alert!) The character Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) loses a child and is depressed about it. Her colleagues (Clooney) dies and visits her, telling her how to move the craft so she has a chance of getting back to earth. She becomes a completely different person full of energy and driven because the character understands people don't just die and that's it. Elated, she says, "either I'll see my daughter in ten minutes" or be landing. The movie is about death. It was a very nice movie.

Posted by Physics?
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Oct 21, 2013 at 10:48 am

I thought it was a good movie. Clooney's character spoke to her in her near death dream, and her subconscious helped her solve her problem and move forward. It was an interestng plot twist to make it seem like he had come back. We have all had dreams like that,where we think we are awake.

The physics of how Clooney's character was lost were a little murky to me, though. Can someone pease offer a plausible explanation as to why bullock's character couldn't have just given him a little tug towards her, and why he went drifting away so rapidly when they let go? It was just such a key moment in the film, it was a little jarring to me that it required such a seeming violation of the laws of physics. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the movie.

Posted by Physics?
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Oct 24, 2013 at 11:04 pm

They were spinning in the beginning of the movie - one reason to see it on the big screen (wouldn't be the same on a small screen, this is one movie you don't want to sit in the back to watch) - they were not spinning when she let go of Clooney that I remember. I just remember thinking, why doesn't she just give him a little tug?

Posted by CrescentParkAnon.
a resident of Crescent Park
on Oct 24, 2013 at 11:22 pm

There was definitely a tension in the line from Bullock to Clooney ... therefore, they must have been spinning around the station ( or capsule, I forget which one it was at that point ) - so they must have been spinning, and logic would dictate that they would spin as well because of the impacts. So, most likely the movie either failed to figure that in, or they thought the depiction of it would be too difficult or the audience would not really get it - or maybe throw up on the row in front of them!

The other part is if the station was spinning it would be spinning at a different rate than they would be and the station would have wound them back into itself, probably rather quickly.

All of that aside, the real physical issue I had with the movie was how great everyone's grip was, particularly Sandra Bullocks when she would grab one of those rungs or bars that lady had a grip of steel, even as her body was rotating and accelerating like crazy! Even hanging on for dear life those are some pretty big forces.

Anyway, a suspenseful movie, that may not have been entirely scientifically accurate!

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